HIKE PROGRAMME
February 2007
MEET: Burgh
Quay
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DEPART: Sundays
10.00 am
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COST: Private
bus. €12
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11
February 2007 ---Glendalough
Circuit Leader:
Brian Flynn Route:
Glendalough * Tracks and Ragman’s Path to Shay Elliott * Carriglineen *
Drumgoff * Coolalingo Bridge * Cullentragh * Derrybawn Forest * Glendalough. Distance: 17km Ascent:
550m |
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18
February 2007 ---Little
and Large Revisited Leader:
Joe Gilvarry Route:
Little and Large Sugar Loaves * Rocky Valley * Carrigoona * Crow Lane. Distance: 18km Ascent: 800m |
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25
February 2007 ---County
Dublin Rambles Leader: Brian
Madden Route: Rockbrook
Graveyard * Massey Estate * Killakee Mountain * Featherbed Road * Old Bog
Road * Castlekelly Track * Bohernabreena Waterworks. Distance: 17km Ascent: 600m |
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4
March 2007 ---Introductory
Hillwalkers Hike Leader:
David McCann Route:
Greenan * Strand Bridge * Kirikee * Ballydowling * Clara Vale Chapel of Ease
* Avonmore River * Stump of the Castle. Distance: 17km Ascent:
430m |
GENERAL HIKE NOTES
PARTICIPATION Mountaineering is an activity with a
danger of personal injury or death. Participants should be aware of and accept
these risks. People who take part in our club activities do so at their own
risk and are responsible for their own actions and involvement.
INTRODUCTORY HIKES An Introductory Hike is organised once
per month for aspirant members. Any participant on these hikes must be a member
of An Óige.
CO-ORDINATION If necessary, tickets are given out on Sundays to
ensure that participants reserve a bus place as they arrive.
LEADER The leader has the right to refuse anyone
who is not adequately equipped (e.g., without appropriate boots, rainwear,
food, torch, hat, gloves, etc). The leader may alter the route from that
described in the program. The leader sets the pace of the hike and walkers are
expected to obey the leader’s instructions at all times.
ENVIRONMENT Try to reduce the erosion and widening of trails,
e.g. do not walk on the edge of worn tracks; walk through the centre of the
original track or go several meters into the scruff where the ground is
untrodden, walking parallel to but not on the track.
LITTER
Litter is
unsightly and dangerous to animals. Even bio-degradable items like orange peels
and banana skins take years to disappear. Bring all your litter home and try to
include at least one extra item from each day out. Do not bury litter – animals
will dig it up.
WALKING STICKS AND RUCKSACKS Remember that walking sticks and rucksacks cannot be
brought onto the bus and must be stowed away in the boot during the journey.
HIKE LEADERS Any club
member interested in leading a hike, please contact:
Garry Byrne
LONG DISTANCE CHALLENGE
It’s always
exciting making one’s way to Dublin Castle for the Art O’Neill Walk. What adds to the anticipation is wondering
how many are going to turn up on the night since this is a no fee/no pre-entry
event. Sometimes the plans made after
too much Christmas pudding and turkey fade away as the night of the event
approaches. In 1998, before the walk
was promoted on the internet, only four people turned up. Since then things have changed
somewhat. Indeed, on this Friday night,
5th January, 2007, four hundred and fifteen years after the escape of Red Hugh
O’Donnell and Art and Henry O’Neill in 1592, over sixty walkers turned up for
the challenge. The challenge consists
of forty-six kilometres by road and track and 18 kilometres over open mountain,
with half the walk taking place in darkness.
Starting
out at midnight
Without any
fanfare (we didn’t want to awaken Queen Elizabeth’s guards) the long column of
widely varying shapes and ages headed off into the night as the midnight hour
arrived. Very soon a few runners from
Belfast careered into the night, leaving the main body of walkers in wonderment
at their fitness. Up Patrick Street,
out to Harold’s Cross, on to Templeogue and past the Old Mill in Tallaght, the
group soon found itself without street lights, in outer darkness, as the Dublin
Hills were reached. Passing by the Kilbride
Army Camp at 3.30am, a welcome cup of soup and a slice of cake was generously
supplied by the small group of regular volunteers from the Wayfarers
Hillwalking Club, led by Grace Dobson.
Pat Lynch, who was to provide backup throughout the length of the walk,
and also other Wayfarers, had transported carloads of backpacks to this
point. With a quick change into boots
and head torches, the journey through fields and along country roads to
Ballynultagh Gap began. Very soon,
however, it started to rain and would continue for the next three or four
hours. It’s at Ballynultagh Gap that
the first mountain, Black Hill, is tackled.
Up till now the hikers had been walking at their own individual paces
without concerning themselves about whether they were in touch with the
group. However, at Ballynultagh Gap
nobody seemed to want to wander up Black Hill alone and around to Billy Byrne’s
Gap in mist and darkness. They gathered
here waiting for someone with a compass to appear, looking as if he knew how to
use it. One fast-footed pair
nevertheless headed off ahead of the group and soon disappeared into the murky
night. Unfortunately, lacking a compass
and only equipped with ‘a good sense of direction‘, they soon found themselves
sitting on the slopes below Billy Byrne’s Gap waiting for daylight so that they
could find out where they were!
Fortunately, the main group of fifty-eight (two had fallen behind at
Kilbride) spotted their head torches as they contoured, using a compass, around
to the Gap and all were united again.
Daylight came on the descent to the hamlet of Glenbride, and the tiring
walkers stretched out in a long line as they made their way downwards through
broken ground and rough heather.
Glenreemore
Brook and Art’s Cross
It was 9.30am at
Ballinagee Bridge and the forty kilometre point had been reached. It was time for a rest, food and drink and a
change of socks, etc. Unfortunately,
two walkers withdrew at this point due to blisters and knee problems. The other two who had fallen behind at
Kilbride were also out of the equation.
With a bright day and pleasant weather, everyone now proceeded at their
own pace up along the Glenreemore Brook to Art’s plaque and the final climb of
the day to Art’s Cross.
The biggest group at this stage was the slowest moving, but gradually
they made their way at a relaxed pace over to Three Lakes, down the Avonbeg
river and along Table Track to Baravore in Glenmalure.
Baravore and beyond
Many withdrew at this stage (formerly the
finishing place) while others made their way to the finish at Greenane (64k)
and the remnants of Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne’s fortress. The runners from Belfast finished around 2pm while the earliest
walkers were in Greenane after 3pm.
Most would have finished between 4pm and 5pm. Once again, Pat Lynch of the Wayfarers provided transport from
the finish to anyone who required a lift to the train in Rathdrum. As a long-distance walker himself, only he
could appreciate small mercies like this at the end of a long trek. The next
train to Dublin wasn’t until 7.30pm, but those who made their way to Rathdrum
mixed with the Saturday afternoon café society as they enjoyed a well-deserved
meal and a pint or two in the salubrious environs of that town.
Fifty-seven of the starters got at least as far as Baravore, the
finishing place until this year, while about a dozen from that group went all
the way to Greenane at sixty-four kilometres.
Everyone who made a serious effort to do his or her best came away from
the event very pleased to have participated in this commemoration of the
journey of the two Irish Princes to the valley of Glenmalure (Henry O‘Neill
parted from their company in Dublin), although Art O’Neill unfortunately died
of exposure and exhaustion in the valley below the present-day Art’s
Cross. This walk has a lot of road and
track in it and half of it happens in darkness. Hillwalkers normally don’t like that arrangement of terrains, but
the strangeness and unusual nature of the Walk, allied with the dramatic story
it commemorates, makes it a journey everyone remembers with satisfaction,
especially those who joined us from far-flung places like Sweden, Germany and
the Sultanate of Oman.
Here’s to next year!
Tom Milligan
This article
also appears in the February 2007 newsletter of the Irish Ramblers Club and on
Simon Stewart’s website http://simonstewart.ie/
NAVIGATION TRAINING
Refresher Weekend 2007
The Hillwalkers
finished their 2006 Map and Compass course with an excellent weekend excursion
to the Rathgormack Community & Hiking Centre in Co. Waterford. It’s ideally
located within 5km of the Comeragh Mountains, which has been the winter
training ground for the course since 1995! This year, ten members along with
five leaders enjoyed two great days, accompanied by relatively dry but
sometimes cloudy weather - excellent for training!
Over the course
of the weekend, we re-visited all concepts studied during the long nights in
November: Naismith’s rule, 100m paced stretches, 12 minute kilometres, 100m
ascents, bearings taken and corrected, stop watches set and read, all
accompanied by detailed examination of Sheet 78. Search parties of a different
kind were established – this time seeking out re-entrants, knolls, obscure
crags, and other micro features that were chosen to tax our now well-honed
students. However, it was not all “Map and Compass”: by 7pm on Saturday night
we had adjourned to an excellent hostelry in Carrick-on-Suir for dinner before
gracing the local pub in Rathgormack. A great weekend all around! Thanks to
Jimmy McCullagh - the course organiser and to various leaders who helped on the
weekend – Donal Finn, Tom Kenny, Ita O’Hanlon and Philip Roche.
Committee 2006/2007
Chairman Frank Rooney
Secretary Garry Byrne
Treasurer Jim Barry
Membership Donal Finn
Sunday Hikes Garry Byrne
Social Events Steve Buckney
Weekends Mark Campion
Officer-at-large Eoin Moroney
Newsletter Barbara Sudrow
Special thanks to:
Webmaster Matt Geraghty
Distribution Pearse Foley & Cyril
McFeeney
CONGRATULATIONS!
The winners of
our Christmas Crossword Puzzle are:
Philip Roche and Don Reilly!
The prize, a copy
of John Martin’s book, "An Illustrated Survey of An Óige's Youth
Hostels", will be sent to our winners shortly.
Solutions to the
Christmas Crossword Puzzle below!
See also Garry
Byrne’s review of the book in the Dec/Jan edition of THE HILLWALKER.
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Membership Secretary
I have been a
member of the Hillwalkers Club since almost its foundation. Over the years, I
have been involved in the club in various roles including secretary,
chairperson and more informally through organising various weekends and other
events. I have also contributed to the club’s training programme which I enjoy
very much. Having spent a few years “off the playing field”, I was asked to
become membership secretary when Anne Russell stepped down from this role at
the AGM 2006.
The tasks of the
membership secretary kick off each year at the Club’s AGM in October with about
25 renewals. After that, approximately 5 renewals are processed per week.
Currently, club membership stands at 150 members with over 30 new members
joining this year alone.
In order to
process all this information reliably, the club keeps a membership database,
which allows us easily generate postal labels for distribution of the monthly
newsletter, create email lists and update our records with the MCI. All in all,
it’s pretty straightforward as long as you keep on top of it, and not let
things slip!
Donal
Finn
A BIG THANK YOU!
To all members of
An Óige Hillwalkers Club who helped and supported our recent Quiz Night in aid
of Sri Lanka School Project. Without their support and help it would not have
been the success it was.
Mick Heneghan
SOCIAL CORNER
PAST EVENT: Smithfield on Ice
We had a nice night
for the skating event in Smithfield on Friday, 5th January. As there is a
narrow window of opportunity when the skating is available, our night out was
soon enough after Christmas.
Even so, there
were 17 people skating and close to 50 in the Cobblestone pub afterwards. The
first thing that I noticed about skating is that it is very hot. Within minutes
I decided to fork out the Euro for the cloak room and dump a few layers of
clothes. Skating lasts for an hour, which is long enough for those of us not used
to this sort of activity.
Around half an
hour into it, the rink was more crowded than the M50 on a bad day. It was a lot
less crowded later as people started to drop out. A rare chance to do the
leaning forward and swinging arms from side to side technique, which I learnt
by observing people who seemed to know what they were doing.
Steve Buckney
FUTURE EVENT: Neil Delamere, Comedian
Venue: Vicar Street
Date: Thursday,
8 March 2007
Cost: 25
Euro
Contact: Anyone interested, please contact Don
Reill
Neil Delamere is
an Irish comedian who began his career in 2004 at a festival in Edinburgh.
Since then he has worked in programmes such as BBC comedy series One Night
Stand and RTÉ comedy news show The Panel.
Other suggestions
welcome!
Please contact
our Social Organiser Steve Buckney
IRISH MOUNTAIN RESCUE
Among the challenges facing the Irish Mountain Rescue Association are
increasing insurance premiums, the need for volunteers to devote a lot of their
time to fund-raising, and more call-outs as many casual walkers are not
prepared for conditions on the hills.
The following extracts are from an article published in the Irish Times,
22nd January 2007.
The future of the voluntary mountain rescue service is threatened by
crippling insurance premiums. During the organisation's weekend conference and
AGM in Co Tipperary, outgoing chairman Pat Holland said "over 90 per cent
of government grants we receive goes to pay insurance". The Irish Mountain
Rescue Association, which represents 12 teams which provide a 24-hour
year-round service, also said that Government grants covered just 30 per cent
of running costs, with the other 70 per cent coming from public donations.
Mr Holland said the 300 volunteers made "a substantial
commitment" but were forced to spend long hours fundraising to pay for
specialist vehicles and equipment, first-aid training and protective clothing.
Mary Mullins of the southeast rescue team said: "The public are very
generous on flag days but are surprised to discover that the service is staffed
only by volunteers." The scale of their contribution to the State's
emergency services was outlined by figures for 2005. The teams responded to 179
incidents, with the highest number of call-outs (45) in the Glen of Imaal area.
Overall, 240 people were rescued unharmed, 63 were injured and there were 12
deaths.
The busiest periods are weekends in summer and autumn. The volunteers
also assist Gardaí in searches for missing persons. The association warned that
mobile phone use was lulling some hillwalkers into a false sense of security as
people believed they would be able to alert the emergency services if they got
lost. David Williams (31), a volunteer
with the Dublin-Wicklow team, said a mobile phone signal could only be traced
to within a 6-km radius and that "many mountain ranges do not have any
mobile phone coverage". Mr Williams has been a volunteer for nine years.
He trains twice a week and has assisted in 400 call-outs.
Conference organiser Jimmy Barry, Tipperary, said that despite the
decline in volunteering in Ireland, "our teams are not having problems
recruiting". He described volunteers as "experienced hillwalkers and
mountaineers who want to give something back to the hills and the people they
meet on the hills".
Mr Barry advised prospective walkers and climbers to "take a
compass, take a map, learn your hillcraft and don't rely on your mobile
phone".
An Óige Hillwalkers Club supports the Irish Mountain Rescue Services by
making regular donations on behalf of club members. The club also runs regular
Map & Compass Training Courses, usually in the autumn, followed by a
refresher weekend in January (see page 4).
MCI NEWS
Forthcoming Events
AGM 2007
Date: Saturday, 10th
February 2007
Venue: Moran’s Red Cow
Hotel, Dublin 22
Time: 2.00pm – 3.30pm
Members Forum
3.30pm – 4.00pm
Tea & coffee
4.00pm – 5.30pm
AGM
All members are encouraged to attend, in particular all clubs are asked
to nominate representatives to participate. The Members’ Forum, like the AGM,
is open to all members. This is a good opportunity to meet MCI’s new Chief
Officer, Stuart Garland, as well as other MCI officers and staff, hear what’s
happening around the country, discuss MCI’s priorities for 2007, and raise any
questions or concerns.
MCI ALPINE MEET 2007
SAAS GRUND - July 7th to 21st
The Saas Valley (Saastal) is situated in the south of Switzerland on the
border with Italy. Its popularity dates back to the early 19th century when
pioneering mountaineers were drawn by the magnificent array of snow and ice peaks
that curve around the valley. With an extensive network of hiking trails, via
ferrata, valley crags and a high concentration of easy to mid-grade 4,000m
peaks within reach, Saas Grund (1,559m) makes an excellent base for the MCI’s
10th Alpine Meet.
Mountaineering Council of Ireland,
Sport HQ, 13 Joyce Way,
Parkwest Business Park, Dublin 12.
Tel: +353-1-6251115
Fax: +353-1-6251116
Email: mci@eircom.net
BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND
An Óige
Hillwalkers Club
Easter Weekend
2007
Thursday 5th
– Monday 9th April 2007
Visit to the Wild and Scenic
Snowdonia National Park, North Wales
Llanberis Youth
Hostel, Llanberis, Brecon, Caernarfon, Gwynedd
Moderate/Hard and
Easy Walkers Welcome
Two grades of
organised hikes daily including Monday plus numerous short walk options for
easy walkers
Leader: Jim
Barry
Boat & Bus
Trip Only
Fully Booked – Waiting List Only!!
Weekend Itinerary will be chosen from the following:
British Ordnance Survey Maps: 1:50.000 Landranger
Series, Sheet 115
Notes
Accommodation: Youth Hostel close to Llanberis Town
Booking: €180 NON REFUNDABLE deposit to An Óige
Head Office by credit card or cash deposit (8304555). Balance of €150 to be
paid before Friday 9th March 07, as hostel has to be paid in full at this time.
Booking facilities will be available from 3rd Jan 07.
Cost: €330
(approx.) (includes 4 Bednights, Meals & Transport costs)
Meals: Available at hostel (included in the price of the
weekend)
Food: as
above; stopping at local shops for extras (STERLING CURRENCY REQUIRED).
Bring: Suitable Walking Boots/Winter Rainwear &
Clothing/Towels/Toilet Gear/ Flask/Torch/First Aid Kit/Camera/Binoculars/Valid
An Óige Membership Card.
Meeting: Stena Line Departure Terminal, Dun Laoghaire at
10.15am
Departure: Holy Thursday from Dun Laoghaire at 11am sharp
on HSS Stena Line Ferry to Holyhead. Then onward by bus to Llanberis
Youth Hostel.
Return: Monday evening from Holyhead on 1530hrs
Ferry after bus journey from Llanberis to arrive back in Dun Laoghaire at 1720hrs
approximately.
Welcome Aboard